Late last year First National Bank – Fox Valley in Wisconsin launched a reward checking and a savings account under the Kasasa brand. The rates and balance caps of these accounts are very competitive. It’s nice to see banks are continuing to introduce reward checking accounts with competitive rates. It shows that the reward checking type of account can still be sustainable. Hopefully, we’ll see more banks and credit unions offering their own reward checking/savings account in 2014.

First National Bank – Fox Valley has five Kasasa accounts. Two of the five are the typical reward checking/savings accounts. The checking account is called Kasasa Cash and the savings account is called Kasasa Saver. These offer high interest rates if certain monthly requirements are met. The other three accounts are checking accounts that offer rewards other than high interest rate. One is Kasasa Tunes Checking that rewards customers with iTunes or Amazon.com refunds instead of high interest rates. The second one is Kasasa Cash Back Checking that offers 2% cash back on purchases of up to $400 per month. The third is Kasasa Cash Checking with Identity Fraud Protection. This is essentially the Kasasa Cash account but the rewards are first used to pay the $10 fee for the ID fraud protection.

The following is a review of just the Kasasa Cash and Kasasa Saver accounts. Rates and features are accurate as of 1/8/2014:

Kasasa Cash account rates if certain monthly requirements are met:

3.05% APY on balances up to $15,000

0.15% APY on portion of balance over $15,000

0.05% APY on entire balance if requirements are not met

ATM fee refunds of up to $20 per month

Kasasa Saver account rates if certain monthly requirements are met:

1.05% APY on balances up to $35,000

0.15% APY on portion of balance over $35,000

0.05% APY on entire balance if requirements are not met

Monthly requirements to qualify for the above rates and and ATM fee refunds:

12 debit card purchases

direct deposit or an automatic bill pay

eStatements

As is typical with Kasasa accounts, these are free accounts with no monthly service fees regardless of meeting the requirements. There’s also no minimum balance to qualify for the rewards.

Availability

Customers can open these accounts at one of the bank’s branches or by using the bank’s online application. The link to the online application is located at the bottom of the bank’s Kasasa Accounts page. Customers who are not Wisconsin residents will have to contact the bank to provide additional information.

Bank Overview

The bank has an overall health grade at DepositAccounts.com of a B+ with a Texas ratio of 11.69% (above average) based on September 2013 data. Please refer to our financial overview of First National Bank – Fox Valley for more details. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1934 (FDIC Certificate # 5307).

How The Reward Checking Account Compares

This bank’s Kasasa Cash account is comparable to the best reward checking accounts that are nationally available. The best nationwide deal is at INOVA Federal Credit Union which offers a 3.00% APY on balances up to $20K. Close behind is the Max Checking account at Lake Michigan Credit Union which offers 3.00% APY on balances up to $15K. Both of these institutions lack a reward savings account. FNB – Fox Valley’s Kasasa Saver account is a nice feature for those who have more than $15K in savings. This allows customers to earn an interest rate that’s higher than what they can get from an internet savings account.

To find reward checking accounts that are nationally available or available within a state, please refer to the reward checking section of DepositAccounts.com. To learn more about reward checking, please refer to this reward checking overview.